Going to the fair? Buses are a best bet

With the fair coming, get ready for traffic if you're headed to Monroe. Leave early and plan alternate routes.

For 11 days, from Thursday through Labor Day, U.S. 2 and Highway 522 will bear the brunt of people traveling to and from the Evergreen State Fair.

An easy way to avoid the traffic headache is to take Community Transit, which runs several routes to the fairgrounds daily. The fair runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

The state Department of Transportation is scheduling around the fair for lane closures for the Bickford Avenue overpass project on U.S. 2. Some of those closures are planned for this week, before the fair begins.

Part of westbound U.S. 2 will be closed for three nights this week to install drainage systems and curbing. The closure covers the section between Highway 9 and the Highway 204-20th Street SE interchange.

The highway will be closed overnight from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. beginning tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

Access to and from Bickford Avenue also will be closed, as will the westbound on-ramp from Highway 9 to U.S. 2. Drivers will be guided on a detour using Highway 9 and 20th Street SE.

Tonight only, one of the two eastbound lanes between the trestle and Highway 9 is scheduled to be closed from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. on Tuesday. Access to and from Bickford Avenue will be closed from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The $22 million overpass, expected to increase safety and help traffic flow at the Bickford Avenue intersection, is tentatively scheduled to open Sept. 16.

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